Last Hope
by ChoCedric
Summary: Disregards HBP and DH. The final battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort. It is a battle no one will ever forget.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

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Last Hope

By: ChoCedric

Hermione Granger stood with Ron and Ginny Weasley outside the gates of Hogwarts. It was finally happening: the final battle. Every other Hogwarts student and professor, even the ghosts, were standing outside as well. This was the day they'd all been waiting for for ages: the day when the war would end once and for all. Everyone standing there could feel it was that day; they could feel it in the air itself.

Members of the Order of the Phoenix were also standing there: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mad-eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, and many others. Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters had forced themselves onto the school grounds by breaking the wards, so now people could Apparate in and outside Hogwarts if they wanted. But no one tried to escape; they were standing, transfixed, waiting for action to happen.

Harry and Lord Voldemort were standing, facing each other, wands at the ready. Hermione was terrified. Harry was only seventeen years old, and a mediocre wizard at best. Dumbledore had been trying to teach him more advanced charms and other Defense spells to try to beat Voldemort, but the attack had come too soon. Harry was not fast enough yet, so the odds were stacked highly against him. Since Voldemort's return, he'd gathered an awful lot of supporters, so the Order of the Phoenix plus some other Ministry Aurors were greatly outnumbered. Hermione hoped with all her heart that Voldemort would be beaten today, but she was heartsick that her best friend would go down instead and the world would be ruled by evil. Harry was their last hope; everyone knew of the prophecy now. It had somehow leaked into the Daily Prophet and now everyone knew either Harry or Voldemort would have to die for this war to end.

Nobody seemed to be fighting yet; no Order member or Death Eater had even raised their wands. Dumbledore and Voldemort had agreed to call a truce until either Voldemort or Harry went down. It was simply a matter of watching the two enemies battle.

"Are you ready, Potter?" snarled Voldemort. "You will go down today! This is the day I have anxiously been waiting for, the day when I will show you all that Harry Potter has only survived because of sheer luck. Today you will see your saintly hero go down!"

"Never, Tom!" Harry said in a strong, brave voice, but Hermione knew he too was terrified. "You'll never be rid of me! Never!"

"DON'T CALL ME TOM!" screamed Voldemort. And with that, he threw the first spell.

Everyone on the battlefield stood stock still as the fight truly started. Harry and the Dark Lord dodged spells back and forth, Voldemort taunting Harry all the while. Ron stood next to Hermione and grasped her hand in his. Throughout the last two years, Ron and Hermione had become much more to each other than friends, and the same went for Ginny and Harry. Ginny stood, heart in her throat, as she watched her boyfriend battle the darkest wizard of all time. Professor Dumbledore stood at the front of the line, his face lined with worry. Severus Snape, the Order's spy, stood next to him, his face inscrutable. He could not show that he was also very worried about this battle. He so desperately wanted to be rid of this double life he was leading and show his true colors.

Voldemort and Harry continued to battle, but Hermione and the others could see that he was straining and tiring. Voldemort kept a strong and steady hand, but Harry was sweating and shaking and looked very weak. He was doing the best he could to deflect the spells Voldemort was casting, but the Dark Lord could see that he was becoming exhausted. "Had enough yet, Potter?" he shouted between the jets of light.

"No, not yet, Tom!" Harry gasped.

"Very well," spat Voldemort. "Expelliarmus!"

But this time, Harry was not fast enough. Hermione's stomach lurched as she saw Harry's wand go flying into Voldemort's hand. Harry looked shocked and horror-stricken, standing there defenseless. The Dark Lord laughed and then cried, "Crucio!"

Harry fell to the ground, screaming in agony. The Death Eaters and Voldemort let out peals of laughter as they watched him writhe. Bellatrix Lestrange taunted, "Wittle baby Hawwy's scared, isn't he? At last, at last, the Dark Lord will rule all! I am his most honored, his most faithful servant!"

"That you are, Bella," said Voldemort, as Harry continued to scream. Tears fell from Ginny's face, and Ron's face was white. Hermione felt her own tears coming to her eyes. "Stop it, stop it!" Ginny screamed at Voldemort. "Stop doing this to him! Stop it!"

It seemed to take an age, but Voldemort finally lifted the curse. "Get on your knees!" he screamed at Harry, but defiance shone in Harry's eyes. He would not do as he was told. He would go down fighting if it was the last thing he did.

"Very well," said Voldemort, and he used wand movements to force Harry onto his knees.

"Any last words, Potter?" he taunted. "I stand before you now, victorious, and after I have killed you I will rid the world of all the mudbloods and Muggle filth that resides in it!"

Dumbledore's voice then rang out through the battlefield. "Even if you kill him, Tom, we all know that love will never die," he said quietly, tears in his eyes. He and the whole school now knew what was going to happen, and Dumbledore tried to walk over to Harry, with Ron, Hermione and Ginny trying to do the same. Many other Order members tried to get to him too, but once they got a certain distance away, it was as though an invisible barrier was forcing them away from him. They started casting spells to try to break it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Ah, can't get to your savior now, can you?" Voldemort spat as he surveyed the scene. Harry looked so terrified and apologetic as he looked at the whole school, knowing that his death was moments away. He tried to get up, but like the barrier, a spell was holding his knees in place. The stricken looks on all but Voldemort's supporters' faces broke his heart. Ginny was screaming, "Harry! Harry! Harry!" She continued to try to run towards him, but the barrier still blocked her.

Harry couldn't speak. He didn't know what to say in this moment. He looked at Voldemort right in the eyes, daring the Dark Lord to end it. Defiance still shone there, and Hermione knew that he would be brave to the last.

"Ah, no words," snarled Voldemort. He pointed his wand at Harry, and the whole school held their breath. "No! No! Noooo!" Hermione and Ginny screamed, shaking all over, and Voldemort seemed to enjoy this very much. He laughed cruelly at them and Ron who was also shaking uncontrollably. "Say goodbye to your savior," he taunted. "Avada Kedavra!"

Screams tore through the air as they watched the light speed towards Harry. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione held each other tight, faces buried in each other as they watched their hero, the boy they loved, their friend, fall. He lay on his back on the ground and did not get up again, his eyes staring at nothing.

"Get up, Harry! Get up!" Ginny screamed. "Get up!"

"He won't get up," sneered Lucius Malfoy. "Harry's dead, little baby. Dead! Don't you know what the Avada Kedavra does, you silly little girl?" His son, Draco, grinned next to him.

Sobs rent the air as it sunk in to everyone's hearts and minds. The war was over, and the light side had lost. The Death Eaters were cheering, celebrating over Harry's death. Voldemort picked up Harry and dangled him in the air, laughing all the while. "I think I shall leave now," he said cruelly. "I think seeing the death of your savior has been enough for one day. Do not worry, though; I shall return, and Hogwarts will burn! So will all the mudbloods and other scum that infests this Earth!" He threw Harry's body on the ground. "Come, my Death Eaters," he said, and then Disapparated. His followers Disapparated a moment later.

Everyone just stood there in shock, staring at Harry's dead body and yelling out their grief. In that moment they knew Voldemort had won, and darkness would reign forever.

Finis


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